Bonded by Blood

Im not understanding all the bad reviews here. I think to watch this movie for a start you need to have the acquired taste of east-end London cockney slang and gangster culture (drugs, sex and a lot of the word c**t) I was sceptical about this one... i kind of gave up with anything Tamar Hassan is in due to the disappointing movie releases he has had since The Business by Nick Love. I watched the likes of city Rats for example and was shocked he would take part in such a crap movie after the success of the Business. I feel like Tamar Hassan has been trying to get that 'right movie' of the cockney gangster that works well and has failed until this one! I saw this on Netflix so on a rainy day gave it a go with super low expectations expecting to turn off by the quarter way through mark. I was wrong, i was hooked on this one. Had a good few laughs at the raging scenes which are full of colourful language and i thought the storyline was enough to keep me watching. Stunned at all the bad reviews on here.

I'm not too sure what to make of this movie to be honest. Let me just start by saying, I have a bias for low budget and Independent movie making. I want to see them do well as I enjoy a fresh perspective from the usual Hollywood viewpoint. Unlike some other reviewers of this title, i'm not all too concerned about how accurately the picture may or may not have represented true events. In fact, I really couldn't care less if a script takes massive liberties so long as it delivers a movie that is enjoyable to watch. So what I review here is purely a movie based on its aesthetic qualities and craft.

For all its weaknesses, this movie did deliver one or two good points which would make me say it is worth looking up if you enjoy your Brit gangster. Firstly, some of the villains were very well depicted, particularly the brutish characters played by Tamer Hassan and Terry Stone.

Secondly, although the movie has a weak start and a poor ending, it really managed to draw me in mid-movie. The build up between the two factions as they prep to go at each other was very engaging and really manages to heighten tension. I enjoyed the fact that the movie centred around just one killing incident. Rather then trivialising gangster life with multiple murders, it highlights what one 'hit' can equate to.

Where the movie fails for me, is with the character Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon). I don't get why they found it necessary to have such a weak character narrate events. I actually felt I could empathise stronger with some of the more brutal characters who were at least honest about who they were, rather then this shaky character who really seems to do nothing but complain for the entire movie. Nor did I get the point of using flash back to drive the movie. I didn't think it added anything to plot or structure other then it seems to me the director was trying to emanate a 'Goodfellas' vibe.

A weak script in parts really lets the movie down also, which is a shame because the movie did hold promise. There seemed to be a feeling that characters needed to be portrayed in extremely soft regard when the audience was expected to hold sway with them. Again, this is why I ended up resenting the Nicholls character rather then feeling the intended empathy. It's also seen with the character Mickey Steele (Vincent Regan) where he is played as a compassionate man who takes in the lover and not really a drug dealer as he is just the 'delivery man'. In the first half he is overtly portrayed as the 'honest decent criminal'. Then, his character suddenly flips from being 'Mr. Nice Guy' into 'Mr. Hard Ass'. I can perhaps understand the intent -the deepening into criminal life forces itself upon his personality- but the execution of which was by no means subtle. A more honest portrayal from the beginning -showing aspects of the good and the bad throughout- of each character's traits, would have engaged the audience better and created whole rounded characters. There were also some really hammy lines thrown into the love scene on the pier and else where throughout the movie.

But taking the good with the bad, this movie does still throw up some great scenes. It fails by patronising the audience by forcing empathy instead of allowing the audience make up their own minds, but really engages them with some terrific build up. It manages to capture beautifully the exhilaration of criminal life, because as high and as quick as the criminal may rise, their moment at the top may well just be as brief.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

This fundamentally pointless gangster flick (the story has been done twice before) gives Tamer Hassan the chance to do his typical gurning, foul mouthed cockney gangster thing as Pat Tate, whilst Terry Stone inexplicably plays the same character he did before, with the likes of Neil Maskell and Adam Deacon for support in this latest attempt to bring the true life story of the 1995 Rottenden Range Rover murders to the screen. It lacks the sappy melodrama of the dismal Rise of the Foot Soldier, but the same problem I had with that film seems to be present here: there seems to be a lack of depth, and the very interesting story just feels really hard to get in to. It just would not appear to translate well to film, surely one it would be better to read about. Great soundtrack, though. **

Didn't know a third film had been made about this subject but whilst stuck indoors waiting on a delivery (DHL late again) I just watched Bonded by Blood. First impressions after having just viewed the film are that it was not very good. Not totally terrible but only really worth watching if you have absolutely nothing better to do and want something to occupy your interest.

As has been picked up by one of the better revues of this film on here my main criticism is that the actor portraying Darren Nicholls (Adam Deacon) is annoying and unconvincing throughout. You spend a lot of the movie wanting to smack the petulant little fake scowl off of his face (the character not the actor) and you certainly don't empathise with him or indeed anyone else in the film.

I also concur that Craig Fairbrass's portrayal of Pat Tate was more convincing and accurate than that of Tamer Hassan. Hassan's Tate seemed too considered (albeit still a bully, steroid using f##k up) at times when the reality is he was far from that. Not a terrible performance just not as good as the one that Fairbrass did where he nailed the character in Rise of the Footsoldier.

The actresses used all seemed out of their depth if they were called upon to do more than be giggling fluff. I don't personally have a problem with that as this is a bloke's film and don't particularly want it ruined with dialogue about the wife's/girlfriends perspective. Suffice to say though the little acting that was required by any of the actresses was poor to awful. The only actress who was convincing at all was the "tart" in the nurse's outfit who was passenger in the car crash with Tate (Hassan).

I liked Neil Maskell's performance as Craig Rolfe, and this was a lot closer to reality than the one portrayed in Rise of the Footsoldier by Roland Manookian, although I don't necessarily think that was down to bad acting by Roland, just that the character was different (inaccurate?) in that script.

Terry Stone rocks up once again to play Tony Tucker and although his first attempt in Rise of the Footsoldier was a bit too cartoon this version seems a little undecided? To be fair I'm not going to criticise the fella as he is still learning his game in the acting world and how many different ways can you portray a one dimensional character like the fictionalised Tony Tucker? I'm sure the script called for more of the same but lose the wig.

Finally the Bernard O'Mahoney character played by Johnny Palmiero seemed totally miscast? It's not that it was a terrible performance by Palmiero but that it bore absolutely no resemblance to the real Bernard O'Mahoney in accent or stature. I much preferred reading Bernard O'Mahoney's books than watching this film.

I give the film 4/10. Just my opinion and I suggest you watch it yourself and make your own mind up. If you have the time spare of course.

I guess the British film industry will never get tired of the Essex Boys affair, or I would say killing, that occurred in 1995, a sort of mini Saint Valentine massacre made in UK. I have never been informed of this killing, except through those movies never released in France. But I am sure that's at least the sixth film speaking of this affair. I am sure they will make films about it fifty years from now. There were not so many movies about the Great Train Robbery which took place in August 1963. I like crime or gangster flicks from over the Channel, although they seem all alike. You have two kinds, the SNATCH kind and the RISE OF THE FOOT SOLDIER one. I have seen dozens of those features, and I prefer the second genre, more brutal and realistic with also less humor. One more thing, about the scene where the young hood is killed with a riot gun in the end; when you get killed with this kind of rifle, your body jumps to the rear, it doesn't stand still...Caliber 12 is not 9mm...